Nipping at Your Nose
by OfTheIronwilled
Summary: Jack Frost has a mask for almost every emotion. When he's scared, he gets angry. When he's sad, he laughs it off. When he's happy, he just shows it. And when he's embarrassed... well, he hasn't exactly perfected that one yet... A series of oneshots and mini-arcs about Jack Frost's new life with the Guardians and his believers. Can and will contain RainbowSnowcone.
1. That Flew Out the Window

_Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Rise of the Guardians or its characters; that right goes to Dreamworks._

**That Flew Out the Window**

**Summary: It's been a few days now, Jack trying to keep snows light and able to melt, and all of that frost has been building up. Now, all Jack wants to do is have a snowball fight or sled with Jamie to let some of it off. Only, there's a tiny problem... Jamie may or may not be sick...**

**Genre: Friendship/ Very Light Humor**

xxoxx

Jack sat perched on top of his staff, his toes wiggling and floral patterns of frost creeping out from under him. A gigantic smile splayed out on his face, his hands wringing at the crook of his staff while he stared into the sunrise that was lighting up a layer of snow on the ground...

He jumped up from the roof his staff had been resting on, the Wind flying Jack into the air with his arms outstretched and his fingers tingling with snow and frost. Everything slowed, Jack Frost almost losing his grip on his staff, and... "SNOW DAY!"

Jack told the Wind where to go, and he shot through the town of Burgess, painting it the icy blue of frost as he went. Windows frosted over, puddles of water chilling and making all of the 'morning people' that passed by slip. Dogs yapped and barked just to have their muzzles frozen shut; everything was just how Jack liked it, cold, beautiful, and oddly hilarious. Whooping in joy, he made the Wind curve upwards and send him upside-down, pointing him straight to a familiar house at the end of the block.

The Wind still barreling him forwards and ruffling his snow-white hair, Jack Frost jerked to the side and somersaulted forward, the momentum just enough to send him flying onto Jamie's roof with a soft 'clunk', his bare feet sliding at the tiles. Swinging his staff over his shoulder and steadying himself (the Wind was being a little rough with him today), he conjured a snowball into his free hand; it was time Jamie got a wake-up call.

The last few days had been rough for Jack. For the past week or so, the Wind had been sending him the whispers of Mother Nature, who, instead of a decent storm or blizzard, had been ordering light sprinkles of snow that barely stuck. To be fair, Jack had made it work, giving the kids some fun while keeping it light, but the frost had been aching in his fingertips for ages now; a snow day was needed and, according to Mother Nature, finally wanted. A snowball fight with Jamie, Pippa and the others would just tie it all together.

Creaking Jamie's window open with his staff, Jack took aim at a lump under the sheets...

... and had to stop his wrist from flicking forward, a messy blob of blonde hair shuffling out from the covers. Sophie? Jack thought for a second that maybe Jamie was beside her, or maybe they had switched rooms, but no. Jamie's racing stripes still stretched across his walls, pictures of his sledding 'accidents' plastered up in their usual spots, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Jack leaned forward, brushing his bangs away from his eyes while he looked around. "Jamie?" Where could he have-

- there was a 'splat' and a smack of a little hand, and a snowball was crumbling against Jack frost's nose; Jamie had popped up from under his window, a scoop of fresh snow in his hand.

And then...

Jack smirked, one arm trying to hold on to both his staff and Jamie, the other trying to stuff a snowball down Jamie's shirt.

"Come on, Jack," he screamed. "You know I got you!"

"Oh, did you? I didn't notice," Jack laughed back. "You had this comin', Jamie."

Jamie squirmed in Jack's grip, twisting his shirt around in circles while he spun. The collar wrapped around Jack's fingers, cutting off the circulation and turning his pale fingers an even brighter shade of white, but he just smiled as he winced. At this rate, Jamie was just going to end up choking himself.

With a flick of Jack's wrist, Jamie was sent flying in circles from the way he had came, coming face to face with the Guardian of Fun. At least... as face to face as he could get with his eyes spinning and his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Alright, Jamie." Jack dropped Jamie's shirt, the snowball in his hand disappearing while Jamie landed on the ground with a quiet 'thud'. "You win. Now, c'mon. I'll take you sledding across Ms. Greta's lawn." He swung his staff over both shoulders, behind his neck, bouncing inside with both hands drooping over the sides and still tingling with unshed snow.

Jamie just watched him as he strolled around his room.

"I might be eight, Jack, but I'm not stupid."

Jack gave a fake gasp and folded a hand over his heart. "Wh-Why, Jamie, I am _offended_! Don't you trust me?"

Jamie gave a familiar smile, crossing his arms against his chest. "No. Not really."

Jack floated over to him, a gentle wind lifting him from the floor, and patted Jamie on the back. "Good boy. Now, seriously, I'm still waiting for that snowball fight. Go on."

Jack hoped that he wasn't being rude, and that Jamie could see how much he was twitching. Gaining such a large handful of believers in such a short amount of time made holding back - only making a light snow - painful and difficult for him. He'd never tell Jamie that... he was too prideful to tell _anyone_ that. Jack just hoped that Jamie's eight year old mind could understand what was wrong on its own.

Jamie wrung at his hands behind his back, looking up at Jack with a face as innocent as he could muster. Jack hadn't noticed until now, but Jamie's face looked thin and flushed, with long sleeves of a shirt going down to his fingertips to get rid of the cold. He looked almost like he was...

"Yeah, Jack, about that..." he started. "I'm kind of... stuck in here."

"Why?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowing in concern. "What do you mean?"

"Well, my mom won't let me go."

"Again, why?"

Jamie looked to his feet, which were pretty interesting all of a sudden, chewing at his bottom lip and watching his arms twitch while his eyes darted around. There was a sound at the back of his throat, as if he was making a decision, and-

"She thinks I'm sick. B-But you can sneak me out, right? Really, the fever's almost gone."

Jamie had popped up onto his tip-toes, trying his best to reach up to Jack's height. His face was jerked downwards into a pleading frown, one Jack almost fell for but...

Jack brought a cold hand to Jamie's neck, his skin nearly melting at contact with the heat. His fever was scorching, at least to Jack, and suddenly he knew he wasn't letting Jamie go. He was sick. He needed to sleep. He needed to _sweat it out. _That was something Jack couldn't help him with.

So he scooped up Jamie by the collar, and dropped him onto the bed beside a sleeping Sophie.

"Nope."

"Aw, come on. Please, Jack? What happened to sledding across Ms. Greta's lawn?" Jamie whined. "What about the snowball fight?"

Jack gave a half-hearted chuckle, wrapping a blanket around Jamie's shoulders and trying to avoid his pleading expression. Jamie wasn't going to win, wasn't going to kill him with those puppy-dog eyes, wasn't going to guilt trip him knowing that he was Jack's first believer, wasn't going to... j-just don't look at him. Don't.

"Oh, that? That flew out the window when you almost burnt my fingers off."

Jamie huffed, crossing his arms... and then let himself be confused. "Is-Is it really that bad?"

Jack stopped fluffing Jamie's pillow and fanning himself, and looked down at him, the same confused look on his face. "What are you talking about, Jamie?"

"Well, my mom just checked my temperature before you came, and it was just a little over regular. I know I'm probably warm to you, but I just didn't think it would be so diff-" Jamie stopped in his tracks, jumping up and staring at Jack with wide eyes. Suddenly, he could see it. He could see the way Jack was jittering, frost exploding off of his toes without him knowing it. He could see the way Jack was trying to scratch at his icy hands, and the way Jack was yanking at the collar of his hoodie whenever he could, the heat bothering him. He could see _it_. "Jack, are you... sick?"

Jack flew backwards, fixing Jamie with a light glare. Sick? Phht, Jack wasn't _sick_. _Jamie_ was sick. Sure, the slush barreling around inside him was making his stomach churn, and was achy and had a pounding headache... and he _was_ colder than usual... b-but that wasn't _sick_! It was just a magical build-up. Completely normal for a growing Guardi-

Jack stumbled forward, clutching his chest as snow and ice crept into an open spot in his lungs. He choked and gagged, his body convulsing, everything burning around him like he was in an oven, his toes prickling while ice flew off of them, his staff clattering to the ground...

Jack Frost coughed, snow flying from his lips.

And then Jamie popped a thermometer into his mouth.

"Yep," he said after a second, looking at the lowering numbers on the thing. "Definitely sick."

Jack sighed, flicking the thermometer around his mouth angrily with his tongue. "Well, I'm not _sick_; it's a little different than that, Jamie, but-"

"Jack."

"What?"

Jamie smiled, standing and walking to his window before creaking it open. "You're sick. Now get out."

Jack stumbled back, a hurt expression tugging at the corners of his mouth. Why would Jamie want him to...

"I mean, I want you here," Jamie continued. "But you're sick, and you need to make snow or get cold or something to get better, right? So go."

Jack frowned at that, leaning down to pick up his staff before swinging it over his shoulder. All of a sudden, Jack didn't _like_ Jamie being sick... well, he hated it more than he already did. It made the kid notice things.

"Well, what happened to you whining about going outside? About wanting to sled across Ms. Greta's lawn?" he asked.

...

"Oh... that? That flew out the window after you almost turned my ears into icicles."

xxoxx

**I know this isn't the most original thing, but I had to start somewhere, and this just kind of came to me. I promise you, though, one day I **_**will**_** make a sort of sequel to this where they **_**actually **_**go sledding across some random old lady's lawn. Until then... what did you think? This isn't really my best work, but this was just for fun, and I would really like your opinion.**


	2. Pictures

_Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Rise of the Guardians or its characters; that right goes to Dreamworks._

**Pictures**

**Summary: Sophie's room is filled with pictures, most of them of her and the Easter Bunny, all of them a little different. Jack didn't know that, though, until today, when Jamie dragged him into Sophie's room to show him the latest drawing...**

**Genre: Light Humor, I guess?**

xxoxx

Jack had been, for what felt like eternity, staring at this thing, and he still didn't know what to make of it. When Jamie had told him that Sophie had drawn a picture, one of him, he had been ecstatic, especially when he figured out that meant he got to look at embarrasing pictures of the Easter Kangaroo. No kid had ever drawn a picture of him except for Jamie, and even though he _liked_ those drawings, he couldn't hide that he wanted more solid proof that he had believers; even if Sophie decided to color him pink with purple polka-dots, he wouldn't have cared - he even told Jamie that. So when he flew into Sophie's room, and was actually _surprised_ at what he saw there... he... he just couldn't function.

Jack spluttered a little bit, turning away from it and from Jamie's smirking face. He considered even pulling down his hood; h-he could _feel _his cheeks turning to icecubes! He just _knew_ that his face was blue! He couldn't give Jamie the satisfaction of seeing that! Really, there was no way he could get out of this with all of his dignity; he couldn't even rip the paper off the wall...

He put on a mischevious smile of his own before turning back to Jamie, hoping his cheeks weren't covered in frost. "Huh. Pretty nice. Now, where's the one of you and Pippa?"

Jamie, who had been leaning on the doorframe, flinched, his face going red and his head flicking to the side. "Jack!"

Jack swung his staff over his shoulder, inspecting his fingernails while he bounced around the room(away from the picture), a smirk on his face. "What? I'm not saying anything. I'm just wondering if she's drawn a picture of you two yet. Maybe I should give her a suggestion...?"

Jamie crossed his arms against his chest. "Maybe _I_ should copy that and send one to Bunny and North."

Jack jumped back in mock surprise, balancing his staff on his arm and closing his eyes so he could put both of his hands in front of him. His cheeks still felt cold. "Woah, woah, Jamie. Like I said, I'm not saying anything... but maybe I should make ice sculptures... pass them out to all the kids in your class?"

Jack opened his eyes, snapping his gaze over to look into Jamie's. Nobody moved, nobody blinked, it was just them... staring at eachother... daring the other to say something...

... they both burst out laughing before Jack slung his arm over Jamie's shoulders, drawing him close and pushing him lightly out of the doorway. They walked out into the hallway, both of them quieting down, falling into silence.

...

"Hey, Jack?"

"What?"

"If it really bothers you, I could always tell her to take it down. She wouldn't mind."

"Nah, let her keep it up; she probably worked hard on that, seeing how well she captured my handsome face."

...

"Hey, Jack?"

"Yeah, Jamie?"

"You know... phht... my mom always tells Sophie to draw what she sees..."

...

"Ah! Cold! _Cold_! There's no need to _freeze_ me! It was just a drawing!"

...

Yeah... Jack thought for a second, nearly bursting out laughing at Jamie's frozen ears. Maybe it _was_ just a drawing; really, it was just a stick figure anyway. A... stick figure that was colored light blue and had white, spiky hair... and was standing next to a green stick figure with wings... b-but that was completely innocent! Sophie just decided to draw Tooth next to Jack, that's all! Except... they were holding hands... but friends can hold hands too! This was just a drawing from a little girl! And it's not like it had... Oh, why did Man in Moon hate him? He could feel his cheeks getting cold again.

"Hey, Jack?"

"_What_, Jamie?!"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you... my favorite part of that drawing _had_ to be the pink, squishy love-heart floating above- Ah! _COLD_! Alright, alright! I'll shut up!"

...

"Jack..."

...

"Your face is blue."

xxoxx

**I'm such an evil person... I know this one is short, and the last half was mostly dialogue, but it was meant to be that way from the start. Did you guys like reading this as much as I liked writing it? 'Cause I'm grinning like an idiot over here; really, there's **_**so **_**many places I can go with this. Just by keeping that picture in Sophie's room, Jack's doomed himself. After all, who always goes and visits Sophie?**

**... I'm such an evil person...**


	3. Of Another Time

_Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Rise of the Guardians or its characters; that right goes to Dreamworks._

**Of Another Time**

**Summary: It's summer now, deep into July, and with Jamie out practicing soccer, you know, out in the **_**heat**_**... well, there's not much Jack can do with him. That being said, Jack **_**can**_** play with the other kids, as long as their inside, and he decides to spend time with the little girl who reminds him so much of another, faraway time.**

**Genre: Family, With a tiny bit of Angst**

AN: Thank you guys, really, for all of the favorites, alerts, and that beautiful little review! I know this story isn't the best or the most popular... but you guys, everyone of you, make me feel that way. This has been a major boost to my confidence, so really, thank you.

xxoxx

Jack rolled his eyes and smiled as a giggling blob of blonde hair put her hands on his face, pulling his eyelids closed. How many hours had it been again? And how many times had they played this? Too many. Way too many, but honestly, Jack didn't care. All he cared about were the tiny fingers over his eyes, and the smile, missing teeth, that he saw whenever she moved them.

"Seek!" the little hands said from the dark, before moving away with the sounds of stomping.

And Jack did. He whispered numbers to himself, tugging at the collar of his hoodie to fan himself, the words starting out normal, in plain English...

_... One, two, three four..._

... and slowly melting into a memory, of a language Jack didn't know he even knew anymore...

_... cinq, six, sept, huit..._

Once Jack reached his last number, he jumped up from his crouch on the floor, a mischevious smile on his face. Jack hadn't _peeked_ - no, he would _never_ do _that_... but if he had, he would have seen Sophie, smiling and spreading her arms as if to fly, sprinting towards Jamie's room. Flinging his staff over a shoulder, Jack whipped up a small wind from an open window and followed her, trying his best not to make any noise.

_At first, when he learned that Jamie was practicing soccer, and was actually pretty good at it, Jack had been beyond happy, ready to cheer him on at the games, trip up the other teams, frost their shoelaces to the ground whenever possible... and while Jamie didn't really like the idea of Jack cheating for him, he had been excited too, practically bouncing off the walls on his car ride to the field. The only problem, though: it was summer then, and hot - two things Jack Frost's body doesn't agree with; Jack couldn't go without getting sick or starting to melt, and while he didn't mind it, Jamie did. He didn't want his best friend melting._

_Which left Jack Frost inside. And with Sophie._

Jack poked his head into Jamie's room, a tiny smirk at his lips. The room looked empty, like Jamie had left it that morning, with his bed made and a cup of water forgotten by his lamp, but Sophie was tiny, able to squeeze into tiny places like behind a coat in the closet, or maybe even curled into a drawer of the dresser if she really wanted. She was a little kid, with a whole world to hide in, even in just one room... which meant that, naturally, Jack heard a laugh from under the bed. Such creativity.

Jack dropped down onto the floor with a 'thunk' just loud enough for Sophie to hear , making her laugh from below the mattress, and strolled around the room casually.

"Oh, I _wonder_ where Sophie could _be_!" he shouted, walking to the opposite side of the room, to the closet. "Could she be in the... _closet?_" he yelled dramatically, flicking the door open.

When he didn't find a giggling little blonde behind the door, Jack Frost shifted his staff at its position on his shoulder, scratching the side of his head with it. The smirk still hadn't left his face. The memories still hadn't left his brain.

"Hmm, I guess not. Well, then where else would she..." Jack trailed off, listening to Sophie's laughing. "Oh? What's that I hear?"

He floated to Jamie's bed, seeing shadows wiggling from under it and a little foot squirming around. Smiling and putting a hand over his mouth, Jack put on a face of mock horror. "Is that... _rats_?!" A gasp came from the darkness. "Oh, I sure hope Sophie's not under there. After all..."

Jack shot a hand under the bed, wrapping a cold hand around Sophie's bare foot. Teasingly yanking her out from under the thing, he swung her upside down in his arms, freezing her little toes with pinches of a finger and making her squeal in laughter. "... the rats'll bite your toes!"

Sophie kicked in his grip, Jack flipping her upwards to stare into his eyes. "Rat Frost!" she screamed. "Don't bite my toes!"

_This all seemed so familiar..._

"_Rat_ Frost? Is that my name now?"

Sophie nodded, trying to push his cold arms away.

"Does that mean I'm a villian...? 'Cause if I am..."

_... he almost forgot he was Jack Frost in the first place..._

Jack flew up from the ground, almost struggling to keep a grip on his staff, and zipped through the hallway. Letting out a shrill whistle and clicking his tongue, he watched Abby barrel through the nearest door, bouncing up to Jack with her tongue lolling out. Jack swooped to the side, forcing Abby's bottom to the floor with a hand, and swung Sophie's legs over the dog's back.

"I get a sidekick! Come on, furball!"

Sophie held onto Abby's collar for dear life as Jack sped forward, icing the ground below the dog's feet and causing her to slip and slide at random, almost like a sled during the winter months. The hallway zipped by endlessly, Jack flying backwards and propelling Abby forward, her claws scraping uselessly at the ground as she whined. Throughout it all, though, through Jack shouting "Come on, Abby, can't ya' handle a little snow?", through her screams, Sophie was smiling. Sophie was having fun.

For the longest time, all he heard was her laughing.

Until, of course, Abby ground her behind to the icy carpet, and Sophie flew through the air.

_... in fact, he did, then... then... he was Jackson Overland..._

_... watching Sophie fall to the icy ground..._

_... his sister... cracks forming in the ice under her feet..._

_... suddenly, they were both the same..._

Sophie squealed, putting her tiny hands over her eyes as she fell, "Jack!"

Jackson panicked. Summoning a cool breeze throughout the hallway, he slipped forward as quickly as possible, clutching Sophie in his arms as Abby slid across the floor with a whine. He held her tightly to his chest, her hands clawing at him so she wouldn't fall and her blonde hair falling over her cheeks in curtains. Everything fell into a silence, Jackson Overland's breath heaving in and out of his chest, his eyes going blank. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't see anything. Nothing but her. Never anything but her. Never.

Jackson looked down at his sister, shaking, and she looked different to him. He couldn't tell what it was exactly, something about colors, but he knew that she was frowning at him and tilting her head. Not like she didn't understand, no, but that she _did_ understand. And she understood to much, Jack, who was hidden away, could tell. And he didn't like that.

So Jack Frost put her back down and smirked at Sophie's smile, one that had been replaced for a second.

Jack wasn't sure what had just happened. So he put on a mask.

"Yeah, I _am_ pretty awesome. Now, come on, you little _ankle-biter_. I have to get ya' to bed before the Kangaroo shows up."

"Easter Bunny, hop, hop, hop!"

xxoxx

**Hmm... I don't know, I really don't like this one as much as the other two. Still, this was pretty fun, so tell me what you think.**


	4. The Sunset

_Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Rise of the Guardians; that right goes to Dreamworks._

**The Sunset**

**Summary: Jack was surprised when the Guardians decided to take a little break, helping Tooth collect teeth while keeping an air of, let's say, **_**friendly competition**_**. He was even more surprised when he saw Tooth's feathers against the sunset and... after that... well, he really doesn't like to talk about it...**

**Genre: Friendship/ Light RainbowSnowcone**

A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long guys. I hope this can make up for it; this one's pretty long. Oh, and about the French thing, Arora, well... I don't know. To be honest, I didn't research the history of Pennsylvania(which I probably should have), but instead looked at what language the majority of the fandom considered to be Jack's. I found tons of different ones, some of which included German and Dutch, but I mostly found French, so I just sort of went with it. Thank you for the review by the way! And all of the others I've gotten from all of you; you're too sweet to me.

xxoxx

It wasn't often that the Guardians had a free day. Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny especially were busy at this time of year, with Aster preparing the eggs for the annual hunts around the globe. Not only was he stressed and pushed for precious time, but with bags of candy being swiped off the shelf by the millions, ready to fill baskets, a pretty big tooth boom had spread through the West. Combine that with the fact that Sandy was almost constantly filling orders for dreams about rabbits and jelly beans, North was starting the year fresh with new toys, and even Jack was responsible for giving light showers of snow over both hemispheres, and...

... you had work. Lots of it. Lots of it which couldn't be avoided, no matter how much you deperately wanted to. They had said it themselves - that there was no time to relax, even during their meetings together, where they snapped information back and forth as fast as possible before running right back to work.

So when one day, nearing the beginning of Spring, Jack proposed that they take one day just to have fun, he wasn't expecting them to say yes. Especially not Bunny.

It was pretty awesome.

In hindsight, it wasn't _really_ a free day, not for Tooth at least, since they were still going to collect teeth, but there was no rule telling her not to join the boys in their little race. They had had fun doing it the first time, over a year ago in the battle against Pitch, and since the others(Mainly Tooth... okay, _only_ Tooth) had all but begged to do something productive... this was really the only thing Jack had.

He would make it work.

...

It was time to play a game.

Jack walked to the back edge of the sleigh as it flew, wiggling his toes over the side and summoning the Wind to blow against his front as to counteract the momentum of the thing. Clutching his staff close to his chest so it wouldn't be blown out of his grip, he smirked down at Bunny, who was clawing at the seats for dear life.

"Come on, Cottontail, get up here. View's great."

A glare was sent his way, Bunny's face glowing green.

"Shut it, Frostbite," he snapped, before growing uneasy. "A-And get down from there before I drag ya', ya' bloody showpony!"

Jack laid a mocking hand over his heart, inching closer to the very edge just to watch his friend squirm. This happened almost every time Bunny was dragged along for the air ride, and while Jack would have thought he was used to it by now... this was still a pretty fun game. Let him mess with Bunny's head. Maybe it _was_ a little cruel... but the Kangaroo knew it was all in good fun, and - hey - it still let him mess with Bunny's head.

"Oh, I think it's so sweet that you worry," he laughed, his toes above empty space now. "There's no need to, though. After all, I'm getting..." His face twisted into an evil little smile. "... _down_."

Jack lifted his bare foot over the golden trim of the sleigh, directly over open air, before letting it drop. There was a deep yelp from above him, and then all he could hear was the Wind whistling in his ears, ruffling his hair playfully as he fell into a free-fall. Clouds splashed out from beneath him, freezing on his skin while he held his legs stiff to the Wind. Everything sped up and blurred, midnight-blue and white whizzing past his eyes while he tried to... ignore that _sound_. The sound of whistling tranforming into a _voice_. The sound of a nagging old woman's whispers - no - _shouts_ filling the Wind and telling him it was time for a storm in Vancouver. And in Washington. And Providence... Because that could wait. Right now he was having fun.

Realizing he'd fallen far enough, and Bunny had already put his head back into the sleigh, he told the Wind to go up, a breeze shooting him in an upwards arch and sending him almost face to face with a guffawing North, Jack's hand resting gently on a reindeer's back.

"Easy, Jack Frost," he laughed. "Will give Bunny heart attack if not careful!"

"Aw, him?" Jack teased, daring a peek back at the scowling Pooka, whose face was now completely green. "Kangaroo's been through worse. He can handle it."

Bunny crouched forward, bending his legs as if to get up and strangle Jack where he flew, before he stumbled and gasped, realizing he was still in the _air_, and leaned against the seats again. This sent North into another small laughing fit, Jack just rolling his eyes and smiling up at a silently laughing Sandy, who was riding along in a helicoptor of sand. Watching some pictures flash over the little man's head, mostly of him and Bunny, he almost missed a disgusting gurgling sound behind him, followed quickly by, "Bunny! Seats were just reupholstered!". Almost.

He was still laughing and floating along in the air, Bunny angrily wiping at some old carrots with a paper towel and North slapping a hand to his forehead while he threw a snowglobe, when he noticed the reindeer had all but stopped dead in the sky. Lifting his head up and wiping his eyes, he saw Tooth in front of them, her head cocked to the side with an excited grin on her face and her feathery arms crossed over her chest. A coin was clenched between her knuckles, being swapped from finger to finger every now and then, and she seemed jittery, like she was... waiting for something. After a few seconds, noticing that North had lurched the sleigh to the side("Ah, Tooth, it is you!") and Jack had floated along, she zoomed forward into the window of a house with a squeal, muttering something about a "lovely incisor".

Looking at her, after North had landed the sleigh on the nearest roof and was making his way out of it, he realized that she hadn't even seen _them_, just the tooth that had been behind them before. She seemed happy and bright, but tired, darting back out of the window and cooing over a white tooth in her hands before fluttering the other way, rubbing her eyes.

... Just to flinch and twist back around, her eyes pinpricks and a smile on her face. "Canine down the block!" She zoomed forwards, a couple feathers trailing behind her and the tooth still in her hand - "Incisor on Main Street! A-Another canine next door! In Paris? Malaysia?!" She was sent into a donut, flapping back and forth and back and forth, changing directions over and over again -

Jack shook his head and chuckled, flying up to her to grab her shoulders and spin her around. "Woah, Tooth! Slow down, there," he laughed, staring into her violet eyes, topped with mascara. She looked confused and a little scared for a second, Jack saw, before her brain caught up with her and Tooth wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Jack flinched at the warm touch, frost creeping upwards into his cheeks, but shakily put his arms around her once the feeling of feathers against skin became normal again. "Hello, Jack," she said, pulling away after an eternity of a second, her feathered arms brushing against Jack's wrists. She cocked her head to the side before he could answer her back, looking down at North, who was creeping towards a brick chimney, candy canes in hand. Seeing the others, Bunny hopping from the sleigh with a grumble and Sandy crumbling his helicoptor into golden sand, her face glowed even brighter, looking a little relieved.

Tooth flittered out of Jack's arms, flying down to the roof the sleigh sat on while Jack followed her. Sandy floated to her, giving her a small pat on her hand and a quick squeeze of the shoulders, and Bunny just gave her a quick wave before continuing to grumble about the world and all who inhabited it. North was starting to creep back from wherever he had gone off to, and though Jack had a sneaking suspicion of where that "wherever" was, he kept quiet. He wanted to see where this would go.

"Oh, I'm so glad all of you could make it!" Tooth exclaimed, taking a second to brush back the ruffled feathers starting to droop over her eyes. "With all of the _candy_..." She shot a quick look at Bunny, a little smirk playing at her lips. "It's been -"

North was back.

"Ah, Tooth, it is you," came a shout from North, repeating himself from earlier as his arms circled Tooth in a crushing hug. Her legs were lifted farther from the ground, her pink wings crinkling against the small of her back while she squaked out a cough("Y-Yes, i-it is... ch-choking..." "Woah, North, leave some hugs for the rest of us."). "When you didn't show up to Guardian meeting, we were worried." North undid his death-grip, unknoting his hands and flinging them outwards in order to let her go before showing her a tiny white object pinched between his fingers. It took Jack a second to realize what it was, and Tooth even longer in her dizzy state, but he still let himself smirk; he knew something was about to happen as soon as Bunny and Sandy caught on. "And _look_. Have already got a head start on helping."

And there it was. North raised his eyebrows and waggled them towards Bunny, who tensed before growling at him. "Hey, North, that's cheatin', ya' wan-"

Jack zoomed in front of him, putting a hand to his chest and flipping his staff innocently into the air with the other - at least as innocent as he could get with a signature smirk plastered to his face. "Hey, now, Kangaroo, lighten up. It's not a competition." He rolled his shoulder to the side, jerking his staff behind him before fishing it back upwards. Hanging at the crook, leaving Tooth confused and looking at the half-empty sash tied to her waist, was a tiny bag, filled with teeth, the tooth fairy's initials embroidered on the front of it in a golden thread. "Besides, even if it was, I'd think you'd look out for me and Tooth instead."

There was a silence after that, everyone standing stiff and ready for the word, not saying anything... and then Sandy floated up to North and swiped the tooth out of his hand, North bellowed "We will collect the teeth!" for old time's sake, and everything turned to chaos.

Jack whooped in joy, stuffing the little bag of teeth into the pocket of his hoodie before zooming into a backwards arch, flying into a loop-de-loop and shooting to the house across the street. He had slipped through the window so fast he barely noticed, but he had seen Bunny jumping from the roof of the other building and landing into his tunnel, and if Tooth was tired, she didn't show it, listening to her mini-fairies' shouts and flying off to the closest tooth. He was glad they were finally loosening up a bit, especially after he had had to work his butt off in Canada for the past few months, and he had to stop himself from accidentally waking up little Jimmy when he reached under his pillow to grab his tooth.

It was like that for the first few houses - just flying in, grabbing a tooth or two, leaving a quarter, and getting out - but he could tell when North had started breaking out the real prizes. Everyone, even Tooth, was leaving bigger and better presents with each stop, Jack leaving more detailed ice sculptures in his wake and North bringing out the Christmas trees early. With this, everyone was getting more competitive at that point, too, Jack swooping by and freezing Bunny's feet to the floor and Tooth siccing her mini-fairies on anyone who came close(but mainly Jack). At one point, Jack had frosted Tooth's wings just enough to make her fall for a few seconds, and had ripped the lights from North's trees before he had finished plugging it in just out of desperation. It wasn't often that Jack Frost _lost_ a game, and it almost made him sick thinking about it, but the Guardians had now done this before, and after weeks and weeks of nothing but work after they were getting used to a little bit of fun, Jack Frost style, in their lives... it was like this race would be the last thing they ever did. They were _ravenous_. (He figured that out when North and Sandy teamed up and started putting mini kiddy-rides, like the ones in front of old-timey grocery stores, right in front of a few childrens' beds, nothing but a note that said, "Thanks for the tooth, Love the Tooth Fairy." on them. Try explaining _that_ one to mom and dad. At least the Christmas tree might have been able to be passed off as a joke.)

So it didn't surprise him when the other Guardians dropped gigantic bags of teeth at his feet, all of them a little out of breath, and Jack only with a bag a third the size of all the others. What _did_ surprise him though, was that after that, instead of arguing over who had collected the most "chompers" or who had left the best prizes, or teasing Jack at how little he had gotten, they just laughed. They all just fell to the floor, laughing, leaving Jack smiling from ear to ear and the mini-fairies latching to his face.

What had also surprised him was what had happened after they all calmed down.

Jack flew backwards in a leisurely position, following North's sleigh through the air as North dug around for a snowglobe among all the teeth scattered around, watching as figures flashed by over Sandy's head in his helicoptor. He still hadn't known him long enough to know what it meant, but decided to be polite and just nod along as he was talking. So far all he had seen was pictures of Jack's sculptures he had left behind at children's houses, and a few of the kiddy rides and sand-paintings Sandy himself had made. He was still "talking" to Sandy and counting the teeth in the little pouch resting on his chest when he almost missed Tooth muttering something about "One last canine, right down there.", and one of the most amazing yet embarrassing moments of his entire life. Almost.

Jack looked up. And what he saw was beauitful.

When the Guardians had started collecting teeth, it was still fairly bright out in the hemisphere, all of them hoping to nab the teeth of the younger kids before it was time for Sandy to really push himself into his never ending job. What do you have when you have the sun? The moon. And what do you have when you have the sun and moon? The sunset. And currently, the figure that was in front of that sunset looked like an angel.

Tooth, turning away to collect one last tooth before catalogueing what they had already amassed, positively _sparkled_. The stunning reds, pinks, and vibrant yellows glistened over Tooth's smooth feather's, glossing them over with a light almost blinding. Her eyes glimmered whenever she turned her head even in the slightest, the violet poking out against the light blues and fiery reds of the sky in a stark contrast, her lashes dark and defined because of it. The rest of her melding and blending into the sky like a rainbow of hues, her wings, transluescent, caught the light, bouncing those hues back at anyone who looked at her for even a fraction of a second. Even her _teeth_ - the things that she was _named after_ - shone in the dimming sunlight. Jack saw all of this, his jaw nearly popping from his head and his cheeks freezing into icecubes; he could have swore he saw a halo floating above her head.

Jack nearly froze(pun intended) at the spot, the Wind nearly dropping him and the world falling away. He wasn't even talking to Sandy anymore - he wasn't even _looking_ at him anymore, just at Tooth - Sandy was just making pictures at blind eyes. There was no sound, no universe, no nothing, just the tooth fairy... and then... he registered something. Sandy moving, flapping his arms around wildly, trying to push him out of the way...

_Smack._

Jack's vision went dark, lights flashing in his eyes, pain flying through his mouth... and then he opened his eyes to see a billboard. A very _familiar-looking_ billboard. One with an add for toothpaste on it.

Jack was _this_ close to killing himself. You know, before the embarrassment could. But he didn't exactly have time.

Tooth was by Jack's side before he had fully realized what had just happened, a pained and concerned look on her face as she gripped his cheeks in the palms of her hands. "Oh, Jack, are you okay, Sweet Tooth? Where does it hurt? Are you hurt? Are you okay?!" Her maternal side had kicked in, Jack realized with dread, her hands jerking his head to the sides with enough force to give him whiplash, her fingers poking and prodding at areas inside of his mouth in order to look for sore spots at his gums. All around him, also, were the mini-fairies, gasping and crying and latching onto his hoodie as if Jack were dying in front of their very eyes, and he didn't understand _why_ until he tasted salt and rust, and Tooth's fingers came back to his cheeks covered in a muddy blue color. Jack was _bleeding_. After smashing head-first into a _billboard_. He could imagine it then, blue staining all of his white teeth; of course the mini-fairies were concerned.

Jack sighed a little and lifted his hands to give Tooth(and the mini-fairies and all of the Guardians who had stopped everything they were doing just to rush over. Right then, Jack was surrounded by a full-on _mob_ of people, all of them trying to poke at his teeth. He really wasn't sure where all of them came from.) a reassuring pat, a throbbing in his tongue telling him what the problem was. "It's _okay_, Tooth. I just bit my tongue."

All around him were protests of, "Hard enough to make you _bleed_?", even Sandy making pictures of a droplet of water to put his point across. Jack was pretty sure that if he hadn't said something right then and there, he would have been shipped off to the infirmary, draped over Phil the yeti's shoulder. It was nice to have a family, but after three-hundred years of solitude before falling into an overprotecrtive one, it could be suffocating at times.

"Really, guys, I'm fine," he said, dragging a hand over his mouth and smearing blood over his cheeks. "It's already almost done bleeding. I just wasn't looking where I was going and I crashed. It's happened before." _Not for the same _reason_, but..._

"What?" Bunny snapped, now a little bit more curious than angry and sarcastic as he hopped over to Jack, who was floating just a little bit off the ground. "Wasn't lookin' where you were goin'? What in tha' world were ya' starin' at, then, Frostbite? The sunset?"

And then Jack's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, his cheeks freezing into mini Jack-cicles. And Sandy was laughing at him, the cheeky bas-

Bunny started laughing at him, too("Seriously? I was just kiddin', mate."), whether he knew the real reason behind the crash or not. Everyone else followed behind him, North clapping Jack on the small of his back("Should have seen look on your face!") as if he had just made the funniest joke ever told, Bunny rolling around on the ground and the mini-fairies starting to wring at his hoodie, as if Tooth had told them something through their mental bond. Tooth herself was the only one to keep quiet, silently fuming to herself as she stared out at the others, the feathers on her arms still brushing against Jack's blood-smeared cheeks.

Jack gave a wry smile and patted her hands again, as if to tell her it was fine and that he didn't mind them, and she frowned before letting a smile stretch from ear to ear.

He could have swore he saw a halo floating above her head.

xxoxx

**Alternate titles include: "Halo" and "Holy Crap, the Word Count"**

**... You know, I should probably be studying for finals, and instead, I'm writing for four hours straight. Time well spent. Also, I realize that the voice or style of this story changes a little bit throughout, but with this being written over the span of a few days, it's the best I could do. I've tried to edit it without making it awkward, but sorry if any of it is a little jarring. Besides that, is there anything I could make better? Did you like it?**

**Oh, and... yes, I know the A/N is dragging, just give me a second... just to clarify, I wasn't trying to make everyone but Tooth seem cruel at the end; the others were just teasing him a little bit, and Tooth's maternal side was still in full effect. She was still playing Mama Bear, and it made the ending sort of seem that way. Okay, I'm done now.**


	5. Author's Note-Story NOT being cancelled!

Hello, everyone, this is OfTheIronwilled. I realize that I haven't updated this in quite a while now, and I think I owe it to you to tell you why. You see, from the start, this entire thing had been about fun. I would just write when I wanted to and when I was stuck with some other stories - this was never planned to be something I updated periodically. That being said, when Rise of the Guardians came out, it was sort of like I was on a sugar high. I was reading all of the stories, watching all of the videos, seeing the movie over and over again. The only problem is, with every sugar high, there comes a crash. I just got sort of burnt out on the whole thing for a while and needed to step back, to give myself a healthy break from the movie and the fandom and work on some other projects.

Now, though, I'm going to be starting school back up again. Meaning all day, I'm going to be bored and writing will be the highlight of my day once again. So before long, you _should_ be getting another chapter. I don't know exactly when, but I will try to write another chapter for you guys. You've all been so good to me, and really given me a confidence boost, so this can't just be a project I throw away. I _will_ write more. I'm so sorry that this took so long, but I just had to take a breather for a while.

I hope I can make it up to all of you beautiful people.

- OfTheIronwilled


	6. Where the Heart Is

_Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of its characters; that right goes to DreamWorks._

**Where the Heart Is**

**Summary: After a long meeting, the only thing Jack wants to do is go back to Burgess in order to start his snow schedule for the day. He doesn't want the Wind to think that his home is somewhere other than his pond, and he ****_definitely_**** doesn't want the Wind to completely embarrass him. Too bad that the Wind doesn't want to listen today. _Set during the late Fall after "The Sunset", when Jack is currently 'sick' like in "That Flew Out the Window" - _****_A really short oneshot made to ease myself into the groove of things._**

**Genre: _Heavily _Implied Rainbow Snowcone and... just pure Awkward. **

A/N: Oh my god. You people are amazing. I write an Author's Note - I repeat, an _Author's Note_ - and you people give me two more reviews, and a few more favorites and alerts. What. The. Heck. Why are you all so fantastic?! I mean, look at you, giving me enough motivation to put this out so early!

xxoxx

Jack was bored.

His legs dangled off of one of North's chairs, Jack's staff propped up against the leg of it and barely touching his fingertips as one hand drummed on the table in front of him. Jack had already sat through most of the Guardian's meeting, watching as Tooth reported about the plethora of teeth rushing in and gushing over the fact that most of the children had flossed despite all of the candy still circling around, and had watched - literally _watched_ - as North checked over his lists twice. While the Kangaroo got to his own status report... he started to remember why he hadn't wanted to be a Guardian at first. He was _bored_.

It was bad enough that, from the beginning, Jack already had a job of his own to do, frost literally bubbling up and aching painfully in his fingertips, but now this? He had to sit here, still, with the windows _closed_, and listen to his friends ramble on and on about trivial things that he could easily figure out just by dropping by for a few minutes and looking? While an old lady nagged at him to get off his lazy arse and go make some snow for once and meet some deadlines and not to forget to do this and that and this and that and make sure you have time for this and-

And Jack just wanted to go home and give the kids a snow day so he could go over the West hemisphere really quick. And then play. And have fun. Was that too much to ask? Really, they even let Sandy be excused from the meeting because his job was being too stressful, so why not Jack? It wasn't fair! But maybe if he just got up...? All this slush inside of him was really starting to build up again (it seemed to do that a lot in the Fall), and if he didn't let it go soon...

While the Kangaroo kept on his speech about the number of eggs currently going through and what colors they were being painted, Jack reached down and scooped up his staff from beside him, twirling it with his fingers and using it to scoot the chair out from the table. The wood of the thing made a loud squeak against the pleasantly cool linoleum underneath his bare feet, stopping Bunny and making the others look towards him as he stood up.

"What the heck do ya' think you're doin', Frostbite?" Bunny said, slapping the table ahead with a paw. Tooth and North just cocked their heads at him, looks of understanding on their faces.

Jack sighed, frustrated, swinging his staff over a shoulder and dragging a hand roughly through his hair. Bunny just had to make a big deal about this, didn't he? It was just a stupid meeting, emphasis on _stupid_. "Listen, Kangaroo," he grumbled. "As much as I would just _love_ to hear you talk about eggs for another twenty minutes, I actually have a job to go to." Jack didn't mean to sound so snappish and irritated with them all... but he just couldn't help it anymore!

Bunny's nose twitched from the other side of the table, his face scrunching up and looking frustrated, as if Jack had no place just getting up and going - as if it was a sin just to think about it.

"Job?" he spluttered. "What job, Frostbite, having snowball fights?"

Tooth, seated at the right side of the square table, squawked out a curt, "Bunny!" before shooting the aforementioned Pooka a dirty look. Jack wanted to smile and thank her for that, but currently, he was too busy narrowing his eyes and cooking up a smart retort. Like Bunny knew anything.

"Well, yeah, actually," Jack scoffed. "You know, end of fall, start of winter, heavy snow? Spreading joy and white Christmases? Sort of my thing."

"Oh, really? Well then, what about-"

North, who had been sitting at the left side of the table before scooting backwards and standing up, lifted a hand and pushed it in Bunny's direction while Tooth shuffled around nervously. "Now, now, Bunny," he said, giving a small smile. "Is alright. Just let Jack go, and we will continue the meeting when he is gone." He craned his neck over to Jack, who had slapped a cocky smile on his face and begun floating in the air. "Go on, Jack Frost. Will just go without you."

Bunny opened his mouth and prepared to stutter out a complaint, but clamped it shut again and folded his arms while Jack floated over to a closed window. Jack gave North a 'thank you' and a nod of a head, and waved to Tooth before the latch on the glass came undone and the thing swung open on its hinges. It was about time - this snow was really starting to sting and burn underneath Jack's skin. He just hoped he could get to Burgess before he was forced to stop and release snow on an area where it wasn't needed. It had happened before, after all, and Mother Nature hadn't been very happy at all.

Jack twirled his staff while the others watched him silently (they were really making him uncomfortable, and he tried to ignore them), and gave a large, open-mouth smile when he could finally feel the Wind. There had been a breeze in North's workshop, of course, and it had been plenty enough to hear Mother Nature, but it was nice to feel the full force of his old friend after being stuffed inside for a few hours. Jumping upwards while the Wind rippled his hoodie, he screamed, "Wind, take me home!"

And then... something horrible. Or beautifully lucky, Jack couldn't tell. He couldn't tell anything. Couldn't think. All he knew was that the Wind had suddenly blown him inwards and back to the table and into something warm and solid. And he was now laying right on top of Tooth. His legs were straddling her stomach, and he was staring her right in the eyes. With their noses centimeters apart. On the floor, the chair having been knocked to the side. With North and Bunny looking straight at them while Jack looked into Tooth's sparkling eyes, the rich shade of dark violet capturing him, her rosy cheeks radiating heat that he could feel with how close they were... her sweet-smelling breath hitting him right in the face and filling his nose with a flowery scent, her green feathers glistening with detail he had never been lucky enough to see before, even against the sunset... and her... h-her lips... right... right there... plump a-and p-pink, and right next to his... just to move his head... just a l-little bit down. Just a little... and...

_Oh, holy MiM._

He was on top of Tooth! He was _on top_ of Tooth. Right on top of her, right in her face! First with the tooth-finding race and the sun and the glowing feathers and the Sandy laughing at him and now her... r-right _underneath _him, just staring and her cheeks all red and his entire face completely blue and his hair starting to freeze and... why?! Why was this happening?! Why to him?! Why did this _always_ happen to him?! Th-The wind, it must have _known -_ kn-known what?! It's not like it... not like he, you know, actually sort of l-liked...

_"What?"_ a voice asked from the middle of a cool breeze. Jack's eyes shrank to pinpricks. _"Oh, I get it, the 'old hag' isn't allowed to tell the Wind what to do anymore. That's what you thought, wasn't it...? Oh, but don't you know, home is where the heart is! Anyway, Canada. Now. Make it snow. And I would get out of there fast. North and Bunny are staring."_

Jack blinked and shook his head vigorously, clearing his brain ("Oh, why does Man in Moon hate me?") before swooping his hand backwards to tug his hoodie over his frozen hair and his thoroughly frosted face. And then, screaming to the Wind inside of his head, he flew. Off of Tooth, away from Bunny and North, and out of the open window, accidentally making it snow the whole way.

xxoxx

**A/N: Hmm, this one isn't that good. I really don't like this one, but it was fun to start writing it again and... what did you guys think? I know it was kind of weird, and isn't as good as the others, but... Also, alternate titles include "Home", "Awkward", and "Ignore".**


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